 "Giving up the top spot: Oracle founder Larry Ellison steps down after 35 years as CEO")
Oracle Founder Larry Ellison has stepped down after 35 years as CEO. Ellison, who has been the company’s only chief executive officer since he founded Oracle in 1977, will be replaced by co-CEOs Safra Catz and Mark Hurd.
The billionaire tech pioneer, who has built Oracle into one of the world’s largest data-software businesses, will now serve as the company’s executive chairman and chief technology officer.
Safra Catz and Mark Hurd, currently co-presidents, have shared the deputy role since Hurd joined Oracle in 2010, after his exit from Hewlett Packard under a cloud of scandal, according to The Guardian.
Under the new management, all manufacturing, finance, and legal functions will continue to report to Oracle CEO, Safra Catz, while sales, service and vertical industry global business units will continue to report to Oracle CEO, Mark Hurd.
All software and hardware engineering functions will continue to report to Oracle Chairman and CTO, Ellison.
“Safra and Mark will now report to the Oracle Board rather than to me,” said Larry Ellison. “All the other reporting relationships will remain unchanged. The three of us have been working well together for the last several years, and we plan to continue working together for the foreseeable future. Keeping this management team in place has always been a top priority of mine.”
“Larry has made it very clear that he wants to keep working full time and focus his energy on product engineering, technology development and strategy,” said the Oracle Board’s presiding director, Michael Boskin.
“While there was some speculation Larry could step down, the timing is a bit of a head scratcher and the Street will have many questions,” Reuters quoted Daniel Ives, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets as saying. “Investors have a mixed view of Safra and especially Hurd as co-CEOs given the missteps we have seen from the company over the past few years.”
With inputs from Reuters
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